More UXOs fired by Armenian militaries found in frontline
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijan’s National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has detected and neutralized more than 1,500 unexploded ordnances (UXOs) over the past two months.
The Agency told Trend that its experts examined the territory, including one house and five shell craters on a cultivation area, in the Jamilli village of the Tartar region on June 6 and found two UXOs – a gun shell of 100 mm and a part of Grad missile engine.
Moreover, one shell crater on a cultivation area and a gun shell of 122 mm were detected in the Zangishali village of the Agdam region.
ANAMA inspected five houses and gardens, five acreages, 31 shell craters on June 7, and discovered and defused three unexploded ordnance, inspected and cleansed an area of 61,710 square meters .
Overall, 585 houses and household plots, 21 farms, five rural schools, two military units and rural cemeteries, one medical center, winery in Zardab, Tartar, Shamkir, Agjabedi, Agdam, Fizuli, Tovuz, Goranboy, Samukh, Shamkir, Jalilabad and Ujar regions, Mingachevir, Baku and Sumgayit were inspected from April 7 to June 7 by ANAMA. As a result, 1,507 UXOs, 14 anti-personnel and seven anti-tank mines were detected and neutralized.
Currently, special rapid response teams of ANAMA with minesweeper dogs continue their operations for detecting UXBs in the border settlements.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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